At the end of the half-hour class, 8-year-old Jacob Hagen says he feels energized and ready for the rest of the day. "Because you get to stretch out and it's good to be the first class because it wakes you up," he says.

Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices; Encinitas Superintendent Tim Baird says yoga is just one element of the district's physical education curriculum.

"We also have a nutrition program," he says. "We also have a life-skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility."

The whole wellness program is supported by a $500,000 grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga, which was introduced to Encinitas from India in 1975 by founder Krishna Pattabhi Jois.

But when Mary Eady visited one of the yoga classes at her son's school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program.

"They were being taught to thank the sun for their lives and the warmth that it brought, the life that it brought to the earth and they were told to do that right before they did their sun salutation exercises," she says.

Those looked like religious teachings to her, so she opted to keep her son out of the classes. The more Eady reads about the Jois Foundation and its founders' beliefs in the spiritual benefits of Ashtanga yoga, the more she's convinced that the poses and meditation can't be separated from their Hindu roots.

"It's stated in the curriculum that it's meant to shape the way that they view the world, it's meant to shape the way that they make life decisions," Eady says. "It's meant to shape the way that they regulate their emotions and the way that they view themselves."

Eady is part of a group of parents working with Dean Broyles, president and chief counsel of the Escondido-based National Center for Law and Policy.

"And then the question becomes — if it is religious, which it is, who decides when enough religion has been stripped out of the program to make it legal?" Broyles says. "I mean, that's the problem when you introduce religion into the curriculum and actually immerse and marinate children in the program."

Critics of the yoga class launched an online petition that garnered about 260 signatures as of Friday, about 50 of them voluntarily identifying themselves as parents in the district. Another online petition, in support of the class, had more than 2,700 signatures, which are anonymous to those who don't sign.

Eady and the other parents working with Broyles want the classes made completely voluntary and moved to before or after the school day. They say school officials haven't responded to their concerns.

Opponents worry that the class will be adopted in schools across the nation. They point to the Jois Foundation's funding of researchers at the Universities of San Diego and Virginia to study whether the yoga classes affect things like attendance, behavior and student achievement.

"It is the stated goal of both the Jois Foundation and the district itself to prove scientifically that Ashtanga yoga works for kids here in the district and then export it nationally," Broyles says.

Jois Foundation Director Eugene Ruffin, however, maintains that the yoga program is typical of athletics programs for kids.

"They provide you with the exercise and the motivation for children," Ruffin says. "And then they give you character exercises — 'Thou shalt not steal, thou shall be honest, thou shall be respectful to adults.' "

Ruffin says those ideals aren't specific to Hinduism and don't conflict with his own Catholic upbringing.

Despite the controversy, most parents, like Monique Cocco, are happy with the classes. She says her children don't come home with a newfound knowledge of Hinduism.

"Absolutely not — no. What my daughter tells me is she did the pancake today and she lays down and then she cracks up because it's so funny," Cocco says.

Cocco hears from teachers that kids are calmer and more focused after yoga, so the teachers can spend more class time on lessons, instead of settling kids down the way they sometimes have to after traditional gym classes.

When winter break ends Monday, the school district is moving forward with plans to have the classes taught at all nine Encinitas schools.

The town of Encinitas, California is aiming to enhance the performance of its students through yoga. Yoga studios in the coastal town, just north of San Diego, are as prevalent as Starbucks outlets in other American cities. In fact it's known as the yoga capital of America. So when yoga became part of school gym classes there, few people took notice. But one group of parents is protesting now. They say the classes promote Hinduism.

Here's Kyla Calvert of member station KPBS.

KYLA CALVERT, BYLINE: It's the first period of the day at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School, and Kristen McCloskey is leading about two dozen third graders through some familiar yoga poses.

CALVERT: At the end of the half-hour class, eight-year-old Jacob Hagen says he feels ready for the rest of his day.

JACOB HAGEN: Because you get to stretch out and it's good to be the first class because it wakes you up.

CALVERT: Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices. And Encinitas superintendent Tim Baird says yoga is just one part of the district's physical education curriculum.

TIM BAIRD: We also have a nutrition program, we also have a life skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility.

CALVERT: The whole wellness program is supported by a half-million-dollar grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga. It's also paying for researchers at the Universities of San Diego and Virginia to study whether the yoga classes affect things like attendance, behavior and student achievement.

But, when Mary Eady visited a yoga class at her son's school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program.

MARY EADY: They were being taught to thank the sun for their lives and the warmth that it brought, the life that it brought to the earth, and they were told to do that right before they did their sun salutation exercises.

CALVERT: Eady says those are religious teachings, so she opted her son out of the classes. And the more she reads about the Jois Foundation and its founders' beliefs in the spiritual benefits of Ashtanga yoga, the more convinced Eady is that it can't be separated from its Hindu roots.

EADY: It's stated in the curriculum that it's meant to shape the way that they view the world, it's meant to shape the way that they make life decisions. It's meant to shape the way that they regulate their emotions and the way that they view themselves.

DEAN BROYLES: And then the question becomes, if it is religious - which it is - who decides when enough religion has been stripped out of the program to make it legal?

CALVERT: That's Dean Broyles, lead attorney with the conservative Christian National Center for Law and Policy.

BROYLES: I mean that's the problem when you introduce religion into the curriculum and actually immerse and marinate children in the program.

CALVERT: Broyles is working with Eady and other Encinitas parents who want the classes made completely voluntary and moved to before or after the school day. They say school officials haven't responded to their specific concerns.

But what's being taught in the yoga program is typical of athletics programs for kids, says K.P. Jois Foundation director Eugene Ruffin.

EUGENE RUFFIN: They provide you with the exercise and the motivation for children and then they give you character exercises - thou shalt not steal, thou shall be honest, thou shall be respectful to adults.

CALVERT: Ruffin says those ideals aren't specific to Hinduism and don't conflict with his own Catholic upbringing.

Despite the controversy, most parents are happy with the classes, including Monique Cocco, who says her children certainly aren't learning about Hinduism.

MONIQUE COCCO: Absolutely not - no. What my daughter tells me is she did the pancake today and she lays down and then she cracks up because it's so funny.

CALVERT: Cocco hears from teachers that kids are calmer and more focused after yoga. And the school district says it's moving forward with plans to have the classes taught at all nine Encinitas schools this academic year.